


Daughter of Durin

by DryadGurrl



Category: The Hobbit (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, found a baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-27
Updated: 2013-02-27
Packaged: 2017-12-03 18:43:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/701431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DryadGurrl/pseuds/DryadGurrl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the way home one day, Kili finds a baby in a dumpster and convinces Fili (who in turn convinces Thorin) to let him keep it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daughter of Durin

**Author's Note:**

> Many _many_ thanks to the wonderful [KivrinEngle](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KivrinEngle/pseuds/KivrinEngle) who let me place my silly bit of fluff (that got a little away from me) in the universe she created with her story [Sons of Durin](http://archiveofourown.org/works/623138) (which you should all read, seriously)
> 
> Thanks also to Sarah who was the first one to show me a gifset of Aidan Turner with a baby, so she's at least partially to blame for this.

"Kili, what is that? A puppy?" Fili's brow furrowed at the wriggling lump of towel that his brother had just pulled out of a dumpster, because puppy was the only thing that he could wrap his brain around, both that one might be there, and that Kili would rescue it, as he'd always been drawn to stray animals as it was.  
Kili shook his head, looking just as puzzled, shifting the weight to one arm, "No, it's a baby."  
Fili's reply was immediate, because he knew that tone, that was the same tone Kili used when rescuing another Irving the Chipmunk (and they'd _all_ been named Irving as far as Fili could recall) He shook his head, "No. We can't keep it."  
Kili looked stricken for a moment, "What if we're all she's got? It's not like she crawled in there herself and you know it!"  
"It'll be better off with someone who knows what they're doing, Kili." Fili's tone was gentle, edging into pleading.  
"How long did we last with someone who knew what they were doing before uncle Thorin and the rest found us?" Kili snapped back, leveling a glare at his brother and already holding the infant protectively against his chest.  
It was the closest the pair had come to an actual fight in years, but that statement was enough to evaporate the tension, or at least diffuse it a little, mostly because it caught Fili completely off guard, brow furrowing, "... You remember that."  
Kili just nodded, tucking the bath towel the infant was wrapped in just a little closer around her, keeping her secure in the crook of his arm, "A little, but she's not like me, is she? She hasn't got anyone coming for her; if she had she wouldn't have ended up in a dumpster!" Honestly he wasn't even sure that the baby _was_ a girl, since he hadn't had reason nor time to check, "And she's not sickly, she's just small." Because changing things back to the subject at hand was better than dwelling on things he only half remembered.

"We _can't_ keep her, Kili," He hadn't even noticed that he'd started referring to the baby as a girl instead of an it, "We don't know the first thing about raising a baby." The plea in Fili's tone was a little more apparent, though it apparently didn't faze his brother in the least.  
"But it's not just us, is it? I mean, she'll have Uncle Thorin and Uncle Bill and the rest, and you know Ori'll have a blanket of her very own all knit up for her this time tomorrow. And we've done alright by Frodo, haven't we?"  
Fili sighed, kneading at the bridge of his nose, "Uncle Bill takes care of Frodo, we just sort of help. And besides, he's near ten, that's hardly the same thing as an infant."

By that time the child had stopped fussing and was holding onto Kili's finger with one small hand, watching the conversation with wide dark eyes and Fili knew that was the end of it, she already had his brother wrapped around her finger just as tightly as she was holding onto his. He sighed, shaking his head, "Fine, alright, but we keep an eye on the news, alright? And the paper, if anybody, _anybody_ is looking for her, we hand her over, no argument, alright?"  
Kili grinned, broad and brilliant as ever, "Of course, no questions."  
Fili smiled in turn, shaking his head and reaching over to tug at a lock of his brother's hair, "And anyway, might do you some good to have someone to talk to who's at your own intellectual level."

 

Fili texted their uncle to let him know they'd be late in getting home, that there was an errand they had to run on the way, he neglected to say what, because he knew the phrase 'Kili's found a baby' wouldn't, couldn't, explain the look in his brother's eyes, the sincerity in his voice. Kili wholeheartedly believed that he could do right by the infant, and Fili? Well, Fili believed in his brother, the same as he always had.

When they got back to the mountain, and the cluster of cabins near the mine, built in the footprint of the old village, Thorin emerged from the house to greet them, and his response to seeing the bundle of towel in his nephew's arms was resigned: "You've found another puppy." Kili smiled, shifting the baby around lifting the corner of the towel away from her face so she could see and be seen, "Not exactly, Uncle." Thorin was livid, "You stole a baby?!" Fili quickly caught his brother's arm, seeing his expression fall, he passed off the grocery bag of supplies with a quiet: "Take her inside, Kili, I'll explain." It wasn't the first time he'd stood up to their uncle's wrath on his brother's behalf, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last, either.

As soon as the door closed behind Kili and his new charge, Thorin drew himself up, arms folding and brow arching down at Fili, "Explain."  
Fili stood his ground, resisting the urge to run a hand through his hair nervously, "He found her in a dumpster."  
"And he works in a bloody hospital!" Thorin cut him off, "He should have taken it to Beorn, let them deal with it."  
"He didn't want her to end up in care. He didn't want her to end up like we did, only with no one to rescue her." He managed to keep his tone level, even, willing Thorin to understand what the statement meant, that Kili remembered something they'd both thought he didn't, "He's already agreed to keep an eye on the news, if anyone's looking for her he'll give her back." He sighed, knowing that it was probably only half true, "He just needs to know someone's looking out for her, that's all."

It was Thorin's turn to sag slightly, rubbing at his temple as if attempting to ward off a headache, "He remembers?"  
Fili nodded, "He said that he does, a little of it. I'm planning on asking later, didn't seem like a good time to bring it up, standing in the middle of the street and all."  
Thorin nodded, apparently turning this new information over in his mind, finally he sighed and reached over to clasp Fili's shoulder briefly, "At least it isn't another chipmunk."

 

Kili seemed surprised to see them quite so soon, settled at one end of the couch, near the fire, with the baby now wrapped in a clean blanket and once again keeping hold of one of Kili's fingers. Bilbo was puttering over a pot on the stove, warming a bottle, "I'll show you how to do this yourself tomorrow, same as the nappies, it's easy, really, the measurements are all on the, oh..." He blinked up as Thorin and Fili entered, both brows arching a little in question.

Thorin's arms had folded again, eying Kili, who seemed to shrink, just a little, into the couch, though he didn't try to pull his finger away from the infant in his arms.  
"You're serious about this?" Thorin's voice was quiet, but there was a definite gravity there that hushed the rest of them, even stilling Frodo who was finishing his homework at the kitchen table.  
Kili could just nod, swallowing hard and not quite trusting his own voice at the moment.  
"Won't be the same as feeding a wild animal that's followed you home because you've shared your sandwich."  
Kili nodded again, "I know."  
"And if someone it actually belongs to is looking for it, you'll give it back." It wasn't a question.  
Kili nodded again, though he held her a little closer reflexively, "Of course." A bare pause before he added: "And she's a ... you know, she."  
Thorin nodded again, still keeping Kili pinned with just a look, "And if no one comes looking for her you'll do this right, adoption papers and all. You understand?"  
Fili had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning at the sudden flare of hope in his brother's expression, and Bilbo went back to fussing with the stove to keep from doing the same, though he shot Fili a sideways look as he did so, he knew they'd both seen it.  
Kili was nodding more vigorously, "Yeah, I mean, won't be hard to prove I'm more fit as a parent than someone who left her in a dumpster, and it's not as if it's hard to show that the village is safe, good place to raise kids."

Thorin nodded, sighing heavily, "Very well. But she is _your_ responsibility." A pause and Bilbo could see the amusement gathering at the corners of his eyes, even though his tone was still somber as he said: "One more thing, please tell me you aren't going to name her Irving."  
Bilbo didn't understand the reference, but that was something he'd gotten used to and really all that mattered was that it made Fili break up laughing, and left Kili spluttering indignantly for a few moments before he dissolved into laughter as well.

 

Once the infant was fed and dozing peacefully in Kili's arms, Fili dropped onto the couch beside his brother, "Gloin's still got Gimli's crib, they never got rid of it, but it's back in the city, be a couple days before they can get it here, Ori says he knows just the pattern he wants to use for a blanket, and Bombur says that he can get us the names of a couple social workers who will be sympathetic when nobody comes looking for her." Apparently he'd been busy helping in his own way while Bilbo showed Kili what angle to hold the baby and the bottle at and how to burp her when she'd finished.  
Kili smiled, bumping his brother's shoulder gently with his own, the sort of wordless thanks that they usually gave each other. He gently wiggled the finger that the baby was still holding onto, even in her sleep, "She doesn't want to let go."  
"Of course not, she knows you're keeping her safe." Fili wanted to ask what his brother remembered, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do so right at the moment, not with Bilbo checking over Frodo's homework at one end of the table, and Thorin going over the most recent progress reports at the other end, and Frodo curled up in the armchair near the fire with a book. He wanted to ask, but not with an audience, so instead he just asked: "Hungry?"  
"Yeah, a bit." Kili had been too preoccupied with making sure the baby got fed that he hadn't thought about feeding himself.  
Fili smiled, ruffling his brother's hair and unfolding from the couch again. He ended up making ham sandwiches for everyone, since nobody had eaten dinner yet, but that tended to be how food worked in their household, especially with everyone on different schedules. 

Thorin was overseeing the mining operation and what little rebuilding was left, Bilbo was still trying to sell the store and was back and forth back to the city at odd hours to show people the property, not counting his weekly excursions back to Linlithgow with Frodo to turn in the youngster's homework assignments for the week and pick up the next week's, Fili and Kili both had reduced work hours, though they both still worked a couple of days a week, they also took time to do their coursework, all by correspondence, because they'd tried it in the classroom and neither of them had been able to focus, though they'd tried.

 

Kili had been shifting restlessly for the past half hour, and finally Fili sighed, "What's wrong?"  
"What if she rolls off the side of the bed?" Kili asked, sounding sleepy and concerned at the same time.  
"She'll bounce." He realized as soon as he'd said it that it was the wrong thing to say and he shook his head, levering himself upright and rubbing a hand up over his face and through his hair, "Joke, Kili, it was a joke." He realized that his brother was going to worry himself into sleeplessness over it, and sighed, shaking his head again and pushing himself to his feet, crossing the narrow space between their beds to lift the quilt on the near side of Kili's bed, "Shove over, I'll keep her in on this side."

The infant stirred at the shifting of the bed, but didn't quite wake up, just sighed and went back to sucking at her lower lip, and Kili smiled, arm curled across her again, fingers resting against his brother's arm once Fili had settled, another silent thanks.  
Fili was silent for a few minutes, just listening to the baby breathe, watching his brother watching her, when finally he asked, quietly: "You remember?"  
Kili didn't have to ask 'remember what?', he knew. He just nodded, sighing heavily, "Yeah, some." He settled himself a little more comfortably, but knew that he wouldn't get away with just that, and explained, "Mostly I remember that I couldn't find you, not anywhere, and I didn't have you there to talk for me, I didn't know what to do." His eyes closed, because he couldn't bear to see Fili's face as he continued, "I remember that I thought you hated me, that's why you didn't come when I called, you _always_ came when I called, and then you didn't anymore and I didn't know what else _to_ think."  
Fili's fingers curled against his brother's arm, just below his elbow, "It's okay. It was forever ago, and now we can't get you to _stop_ talking for yourself." That was all the forgiveness Kili needed and he blinked slowly and smiled even though there were still tears caught in his lashes, "Yeah, guess you should have kept translating for a while longer if you wanted me to shut up."  
Fili smiled as well, fingers uncurling from Kili's arm so that he could tug at his brother's hair instead, "Yeah, guess so. Get some rest, okay?"  
Kili nodded, settling once more, taking a deep breath, "Okay. You too, I bet she'll be squalling in the morning."

she wasn't, as a point of fact, squalling in the morning, mostly she was gumming contentedly at the edge of the quilt and curling one small hand around a lock of Fili's hair that was close enough to reach, just taking hold and letting go again apparently just to watch the curl bounce back. The gentle tugging was woke Fili, and he just smiled, letting her, not wanting to wake his brother, because Kili clearly needed the sleep.  
Eventually, however, the infant's happy feet-kicking and burbling did wake Kili, who blinked blearily, but smiled a moment later, "That's a thing to wake up to." He stretched then, grumbling in his throat, "Should probably change her, make her another bottle. I can show you how, if you like, uncle Bill showed me last night, it's not hard." It wasn't a long lesson, either, since Fili caught on just as quickly as Kili had, and the baby certainly didn't seem to care _who_ was doing the changing and the feeding, as long as it got done.

 

The next six months passed by more quickly than anyone expected them to, and six months was the time they'd given anyone looking for the baby to be able to find her. 

She carried on profound, if nonsense, conversations with Bifur  
She listened intently, usually sucking on a tiny fist, while Bofur sang her the old songs.  
She went for the occasional, short, motorcycle ride with Dwalin, usually just up the hill and back down, in a sling across his chest, zipped into his jacket.  
She laughed and laughed when Ori let her 'help' with his knitting, and could be entertained for hours by the yarn scraps.  
She was always happy to taste-test whatever Bilbo happened to cook.  
She fell asleep on Thorin's chest when he sang to her, or told her stories, his favorite being the story about her uncle Bill, the bravest grocer in all the land.  
In short: she rapidly became an almost integral part of day-to-day life for everyone in the village. In that short six months, it became painfully obvious to everyone, though no one ever said it aloud, that they would fight to keep her, they all adored her and before long she had become something of a symbol for new life on the mountain.

The first time Kili brought the baby to work with him, not even a week after he'd first found her, Beorn had steered the both of them right down to a pediatrician. After getting an explanation, and giving an easy check-up, the doctor proclaimed the baby to be in good health, probably about six months old, and a little underweight, but otherwise fine. She also reported a marked improvement on subsequent checkups, every month.  
One of the social workers that Bombur had recommended was wonderfully sympathetic to their cause, such as it was, and came up to the mountain to do an inspection and a few interviews. Between his report and the doctor's the issue never even had to go to court, it was all done on paper.

Officially, on those papers, the baby was named Freris Oakenshield, named for the uncle who had been lost, but most of her remaining uncles called her Sunny, mostly because of her bright smile and cheerful disposition, but also because of the shock of red hair that stood out around her head like dandelion fluff.  
Of course Fili could, occasionally, get away with calling her 'puppy', and Thorin called her 'treasure' when he thought no one could hear.

In time, she would learn that tears could get her almost anything she wanted, though she rarely wanted for anything, and in time she would learn some of the more interesting skills her adopted fathers (and uncles) knew, though she would only ever use them for good.  
But for that early time, there was no question that she was one of the most-loved children in the entire country.


End file.
